Sandy contractor indicted over Waretown job

TOMS RIVER – Just after superstorm Sandy, a Waretown woman gave Scott R. Luker money, contracting him for work on her storm-damaged home.

However, between November 2012 and April 2013, Luker’s contracts and work — or lack thereof — led to an Ocean County grand jury naming him in a seven-count indictment, with one count of theft and six counts of being an unregistered home-improvement contractor, court documents show.

The charges against Luker, 52, of Oak Ridge, include six contracts with a Waretown victim, documents show. The work was started but he failed to finish about $15,000 worth of the repairs for which he had been paid, said Peter Ryan, assistant Ocean County prosecutor.

Luker was charged and posted bail on March 21. The indictment was issued May 20.

The theft charge is a third-degree criminal conviction which could bring a three- to five-year prison sentence. A theft is third-degree if it involves losses of more than $500 and less than $75,000, according to state courts. Being an unregistered home improvement contractor is a fourth-degree crime and carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail.